Willingness to reduce chemical inputs and adopt organic-related practices: a health belief model analysis of smallholder farmers in Northwest Bangladesh

This study applies the Health Belief Model (HBM) to identify the psychological and cognitive determinants of smallholder farmers’ willingness to reduce chemical inputs and adopt organic-related farming practices in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional survey of 200 conventional farmers was conducted in Shibganj Upazila, Chapai Nawabganj district, northwest Bangladesh. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test seven hypotheses linking HBM constructs—perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, cues to action, and general beliefs—to willingness to adopt organic-related practices. The model explained 95.8% of the variance in willingness ( R 2 = 0.958); this unusually high value likely reflects construct overlap and common-source measurement and should be interpreted with caution rather than as evidence of correspondingly strong explanatory power. In a re-specified robustness model (higher-order perceived threat; removal of semantically mirrored and ambiguous items), perceived threat ( β = 0.339, p = 0.013) and general beliefs ( β = 0.204, p = 0.009) were the only significant predictors, while perceived benefits attenuated to non-significance ( β = 0.216, p = 0.097), and discriminant validity remained unsatisfactory (HTMT ≥ 0.956); construct-specific estimates should therefore be read as exploratory. In the baseline model, perceived benefits showed the largest coefficient ( β = 0.608, p < 0.001, f 2 = 0.277), followed by general beliefs ( β = 0.193, p = 0.011); cues to action were not significant ( β = 0.078, p = 0.155). Contrary to theoretical expectations, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy showed no significant direct effects. HTMT ratios revealed potential construct overlap between threat and benefit perceptions (PB↔PSV = 1.069). Within the bounds of this purposive, single-district, predominantly male sample, the study suggests that a broadly positive but weakly differentiated orientation dominates stated willingness; the apparent primacy of benefit perception over threat appraisal was not robust to measurement re-specification, and it identifies boundary conditions for HBM effectiveness in agricultural settings. Findings tentatively suggest that interventions should prioritize benefit demonstration (e.g., demonstration plots, premium market linkages) over fear-based messaging. Structural barrier reduction—subsidized certification, organic input supply chains, transition-period crop insurance—is essential as high willingness coexists with high perceived barriers (M = 4.39–4.43).